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Your Favourite Iron Galls

IlikeInksandIcannotlie

By IlikeInksandIcannotlie
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IlikeInksandIcannotlie Extremely Rare

IlikeInksandIcannotlie

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So, what are your favourite iron gall inks, and why do you like them? Is it due to their permanence, great behaviour  on cheap  paper, or is it the colour change due to oxidation?

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silverlifter Vintage

silverlifter

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

So, what are your favourite iron gall inks

 

  • Akkerman IJzer-Galnoten
  • Diamine Registrars
  • KWZ Blue No. 3
  • KWZ Turquoise 
  • Montblanc Midnight Blue (Discontinued) 
  • Platinum Blue Black
  • Rohrer & Klingner Salix

 

7 minutes ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

why do you like them? Is it due to their permanence, great behaviour  on cheap  paper, or is it the colour change due to oxidation?

 

Yes!

Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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Frank C Collectors Item

Frank C

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I like them all. My undergraduate minor was chemistry and biochemistry, so I love all chemical reactions—some more than others. My most-used was the old Montblanc Blue-Black. I have some notes that I wrote in the early nineties with that ink; time hasn't affected them. 

 

Lately, I have been using the Platinum iron-gall inks. I find the Forest Black to be a nice dark green ink. 

 

Here's a link to a list of iron-gall inks: https://gdoc.pub/doc/1po8jfMHv-Uz_ioZ9-2DQzASb1FNs-RSfmkkR4GaZ23g 

"One can not waste time worrying about small minds . . . If we were normal, we'd still be using free ball point pens." —Bo Bo Olson

 

"I already own more ink than a rational person can use in a lifetime." —Waski_the_Squirrel

 

I'm still trying to figure out how to list all my pens down here.

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JakobS Collectors Item

JakobS

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KWZ IG Green Gold

KWZ IG Turquoise 

KWZ IG Gummiberry

KWZ IG Gold

KWZ IGL Aztec Gold 

KWZ IG Red #3

KWZ IG Mandarin 

R&K Scabiosa

KWZ IG Green #2, like the color, but does not appear to oxidize much out of the bottle compared to the other KWZ inks mentioned above

Diamine Registrars Ink 

 

I love them for the oxidation of the ink over time versus permanence, but also for the variety of color that is provided by KWZ beyond the traditional blue black found in Diamine, Motblanc, Pelikan Blue/Black, R&K Salix, Akkerman or ESSRI. I have been tempted by Platinum, but the colors are not as interesting as KWZ for the price, might still get one or two at some point though....

 

FP Ink Orphanage-Is an ink not working with your pens, not the color you're looking for, is never to see the light of day again?!! If this is you, and the ink is in fine condition otherwise, don't dump it down the sink, or throw it into the trash, send it to me (payment can be negotiated), and I will provide it a nice safe home with love, and a decent meal of paper! Please PM me!<span style='color: #000080'>For Sale:</span> TBA

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lapis Museum Piece

lapis

Posted
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5 hours ago, silverlifter said:

 

  •  

     

    5 hours ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

    why do you like them? Is it due to their permanence, great behaviour  on cheap  paper, or is it the colour change due to oxidation?

     

    Yes!

 

Ditto !

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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Frank C Collectors Item

Frank C

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5 hours ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

 

Thank you for the list!

Here's a few more links:

 

https://irongallink.org probably the best source of information.

 

https://kencrooker.com/igink/

 

https://fountainpenfollies.com/2017/09/14/three-months-and-counting-an-extended-test-of-platinum-classic-line-iron-gall-inks-with-a-stainless-steel-nib-fountain-pen/ a cautionary tale. 

"One can not waste time worrying about small minds . . . If we were normal, we'd still be using free ball point pens." —Bo Bo Olson

 

"I already own more ink than a rational person can use in a lifetime." —Waski_the_Squirrel

 

I'm still trying to figure out how to list all my pens down here.

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Uncial Antique

Uncial

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Posted

Scabiosa and Organics Studios Aristotle are both great colours. Be careful not to get the early version of Aristotle as that was a real problem ink. The Platinum IG's have some fantastic colours, but they are seriously dry and quite unpleasant on the nib, which is a shame.

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arcfide Collectors Item

arcfide

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Among the ones that I can still get, I'd have to say that I've enjoyed the balance that Platinum strikes best with their IG inks. I love their Blue Black, and the rest of their IG inks are big favorites in the house. While they could have more IG content, they would lose their other interesting color and shading characteristics, and thus would be less interesting and higher maintenance. The Blue Black I think hits a good balance between color and IG content (I find Registrar's, on the other hand, to be a little too finicky and hard to work with while lacking the color and liveliness of the Platinum Blue Black). It's also available in Platinum cartridges, which, IMO, makes it extremely convenient to use on the road, and more reliable than a half filled bottle of ink on the road. 

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Bristol24 Vintage

Bristol24

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My favorite iron gall ink is Hero 232.  It just about the most well behaved paper friendly ink (iron gall or otherwise) I have ever used.  It is now also quite difficult to get so when I find a source, I generally buy a few bottles.  I like KWZ IG Blue #1 as well as both R&K iron gall inks (Salix and Scabiosa).

“The only thing most people do better than anyone else is read their own handwriting.”  John Adams

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dhanks Mint

dhanks

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Posted

Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black, with its small amount of iron gall.  Nice color, nice properties, plenty water-resistant for me.  Works great in my wet-writing Pelikan pens.  For me, it's my #1.

 

Rumpole

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loganrah Extremely Rare

loganrah

Posted
Posted
On 6/15/2021 at 1:51 AM, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

why do you like them? Is it due to their permanence, great behaviour  on cheap  paper, or is it the colour change due to oxidation?

All of the above ^

R&K Salix --- My overall favourite ink, currently have about 6 pens filled with this. 
Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black --- Similar performance to Salix, but a bit darker. 

R&K Scabiosa --- The colour is a bit more specific, but its nice to have a change sometimes. 

I own a couple of KWZ iron gall inks and while I like the colours I don't like the performance. They are extremely wet and don't have the lovely performance on cheap paper that the others above do. For a really dry writing pen they can work, but not great for anything flexy.

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Dip n Scratch Extremely Rare

Dip n Scratch

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I tried R&K Salix, Pelikan 4001 Blue/Black, 3 bottles of Hero 232 and then Diamine Registrars. For really bad paper Registrars is the last chance.

Are you listening Moleskine?

 

A blue/black ink to my way of thinking writes blue but turns almost black. It is not just a dark blue dye ink.

I got my Hero 232 from Aliexpress. It is a cheap and effective IG ink.

Diamine Registrars Ink is a weapon to be deployed against unfriendly papers.

 

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sansenri Donor Pen

sansenri

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I really like the subtle neutral blue-black shade of Salix, but the ink is so dry!!

 

A very nice alternative is KWZ IG #5, great ink, does not feather even on very absorbent paper (at least in my experience, I have not used many other IG, I tend to avoid them usually as I have a bad habit of leaving inked pens lying around... ).

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Muncle Extremely Rare

Muncle

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ESSRI is my favourite. I've tried a couple of KWZ inks, and I bought the Aztec Gold.

 

Another day I'll pick up more, especially a purple and turquoise

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Naisirf NOS (New Old Stock)

Naisirf

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KWZI Red #3

 

For some reason it didn’t work in a Parker IM F-nib but it behaved very well in my Parker Sonnet F-nib.

 

I like how the colour changes to a almost brownish, dark red. 

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gyasko Collectors Item

gyasko

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Posted

Salix

It shades well and delivers the pleasant blue-willow color one would expect from the name.  It’s dry, but that’s part of the bargain with these inks.  

 

MB BB 

Discontinued, but this was the standard blue black for me.


Scabiosa

I like the dusky purple color. 

 

Was Parker Quink BB from the 1940s and 1950s iron gall?  If so, add that.  I have a stash of WWII era Quink & Skrip and the Quink BB is my favorite.

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